Jennifer Lopez

Biography

A Double Header

Lopez tops the box office with The Wedding Planner, costarring Matthew McConaughey. Her paycheck for the film is $9 million – the highest salary ever paid to a Latina actress. She also releases her sophomore album J.Lo which debuts at No. 1, making her the first to have the top album and top film simultaneously.

February 14

No More Diddy

Combs and Lopez breakup. Three weeks earlier, Combs tried to stave off the split by releasing 100 white doves and 100 pink balloons outside her home, even though published reports already linked her with Cris Judd, an L.A. dancer who toured with her and appeared in her "Love Don't Cost a Thing" video.

September 29

Lopez Marries Cris Judd

After a month-long engagement, Lopez ships in 10,000 white and pastel rosebuds to scent the air around the tree-lined path to the altar where she will exchange vows with Judd.

October

Best Dressed

Lopez launches JLo, the clothing line inspired by her sexy-girlie street style. "I have a very curvaceous body," Lopez says, reports Teen People. "I like to accentuate that with feminine clothes. Things that make me feel sexy." Five months later she will also launch a line of fragrances and cosmetics.

November

Giggly Gigli

With a $3 million bump in salary from her $9 million high for The Wedding Planner, Lopez begins production on the mob comedy Gigli, where she meets her new leading man, Ben Affleck.

2002

March

Affleck's $3,000 Proclamation

Feeding published reports of sparks on the set of Gigli, Affleck takes out a $3,000 ad in the HollywoodReporter praising Lopez's "graciousness of spirit, beauty in courage, great empathy, astonishing talent, real poise and true grace." In April, Affleck shows up for the opening of Lopez's new Pasadena restaurant Madre's, which is managed by her ex-husband Ojani Noa, but current husband Cris Judd is still the lady's date.

June 07

Curtain Call for Cris

Lopez goes to film Maid in Manhattan in New York, but Judd remains in L.A. Meanwhile, Affleck is seen hanging in her trailer on location. Lopez and Judd's marriage hits the rocks. "Cris wanted this to work," a pal tells PEOPLE. "I'm sure he thought it would last. Marriage is very sacred to him. He didn't take it lightly or he wouldn't have done it."

July 22

Introducing Bennifer

Three days before Lopez files for divorce, she introduces Affleck to friends as her boyfriend at Miami hot spot Nobu, the same bistro where she gave Combs the heave-ho the year before. "When she wants to do something, she doesn't wait," friend and fashion photographer Gilles Bensimon tells PEOPLE. "She wants it now." Thus begins Bennifer's lip-locked summer road show, which climaxes in November with a 6.1-carat pink engagement ring. "She was very surprised – and she's not used to being surprised," a friend tells PEOPLE. "Everybody's in a love-fest mood."

2003

August 01

Gigli Takes a Hit

Gigli opens to scathing reviews. The L.A. Times calls the film "nearly as unwatchable as it is unpronounceable." The rancid critical reaction causes Miramax to postpone the release of their second film together, JerseyGirl. By mid-January, they call off their wedding and their torturous relationship all-together.

2004

February 14

Rapid Rebound

Three weeks after calling off her engagement to Affleck, Lopez is basking in the adoration of former flame Marc Anthony at her Miami Beach mansion. On June 5, Lopez, wearing Vera Wang and $7 million worth of Neil Lane jewelry, marries Anthony at her Beverly Hills mansion.